Lord Triesman: The Afghan Parliament has not yet debated the proposal to establish a Department for the Promulgation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice nor have terms of reference been agreed.
	We and our international partners are following developments closely and continue to encourage the Afghan Government to observe its international human rights obligations.

Baroness Amos: The Government have proposed that a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice be set up under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Hajj, which has an operating budget of $6 million this year. However, the proposal has yet to be debated by the Afghan National Assembly, and no terms of reference have been agreed.
	DfID provides around half of its programme (£50 million in 2006-07) in a contribution to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). These resources allow the Afghan Government to establish their own priorities for reconstruction activities and build capacity by ensuring that the Government take the lead in implementation. Around 80 per cent of these resources are used for wages and salaries of government officials. In principle the Government could use DfID's resources to fund any expenditure that meets the eligibility criteria of the ARTF. These criteria ensure that all expenditures: are contained in the government budget and consistent with Afghan law; do not include military spending; and follow financial management standards set by the World Bank. Aid has proven to be more effective where the Government have control of their own budget and resources, and given Afghanistan's dependence on foreign donors, this can only be done through instruments such as the ARTF.
	However, DfID's overall support to Afghanistan is governed by the 10-year development partnership arrangement signed by Tony Blair and President Karzai in January 2006, which commits Afghanistan to upholding human rights. Were we to believe that the Afghan Government were breaching this agreement through any of their actions, we would raise this politically at the highest level in Afghanistan. We also participate on the monitoring and review board for the Afghanistan Compact, which provides opportunities to address issues such as these.

Baroness Amos: Since 2001, DfID has spent over £390 million on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is DfID's fifth largest programme and we are Afghanistan's second largest bilateral donor, spending over £100 million in 2005-06. This will increase to £115 million by 2008-09.
	DfID's bilateral spend in Afghanistan over the last five financial years (from 1 April to 31 March) is as follows:
	
		
			 2001-02 £50 million 
			 2002-03 £75 million 
			 2003-04 £80 million 
			 2004-05 £80 million 
			 2005-06 £101 million 
		
	
	DfID does not have a detailed breakdown of spending in Afghanistan by province, as we put most of our money through the government budget, for example the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). In the past, we have focused particular effort in Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan, Kandahar, Gardez and Badakshan. Over the next three years we plan to spend up to £20 million each year in Helmand. We do not have information on the number of aid workers (international or Afghan) supported by us.
	The table below illustrates where DfID provided direct financial assistance to provinces. This was largely support to provincial reconstruction teams, but also includes support to three NGOs (Aga Khan Development Network, Afghan Aid and Concern) in Badakshan.
	
		
			 Province 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			 National 50 million 75 million
			 Badakshan   0.16 million 0.710 million 1.7 million 
			 Mazar-e-Sharif0.402 million  
			 Gardez   _ 0.126 million  
			 Kandahar0.811 million 0.0068 million 
			 Bamyan0.142 million  
		
	
	DfID is also providing funding of £7.4 million to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for the development of alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers in Bamiyan, Herat and Balkh provinces.
	DfID has recently approved £30 million over three years to support rural and agriculture development in Helmand province. This will go towards supporting activities under the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), the National Rural Access Programme (NRAP), the Micro-finance Investment Support Facility of Afghanistan (MISFA), quick impact projects in addition to the Water and Sanitation Programme (WATSAN).
	Since 2001, DfID has provided direct financial support to a number of international organisations. Details of the organisations supported are shown below. Of theses organisations, we still currently provide direct financial support to Afghan Aid, Concern, Aga Khan, Womankind, BAGG, and The Asia Foundation.
	International Organisations
	Action Contre La Faim
	Afghan AidAfghan Development Association Aga KhanAgency for Technical Cooperation and DevelopmentAide Medicale International Assisting Marsh Arabs and Refugees BBC World Service Trust BRACBritish Agencies Advisory Group British Red Cross British Refugee Council CAFODCareCentre for Humanitarian Dialogue Christian AidConcernDevelopment initiatives Greenshields Cowie Halo TrustInternational Rescue Committee Islamic ReliefMercy CorpsMerlinOckenden International OxfamPharmaciens Sans Frontieres Refugee Studies Centre Save the Children Fund SolidaritiesTearFundThe Asia Foundation War Child UKWomankind
	In addition, over the past five years DfID has provided direct financial support to a number of national organisations. Details of the organisations supported are shown in the table below. Of these organisations, we still currently provide direct financial support to Southern Rehabilitation and Aid Committee and Helping Afghan Farmers.
	Local Organisations
	Afghan Fertiliser Company
	Afghanistan Independence Human Rights CommissionAfghanistan Information Management Service Afghanistan National Construction Co-ordinationCivil Service Commission Co-operation Centre for AfghanistanHelping Afghan Farmers OrganisationIrtiqa Development and Construction OrganisationLuqman Rehabilitation OrganisationMoqadas Reconstruction Organisation Reconstruction Committee for Development of AfghanistanRoshan Construction CompanySouthern Afghanistan Development AssociationSouthern Rehabilitation and Aid Committee Tribal Liaison Office
	A significant proportion of DfID's programme goes to NGOs indirectly through the Government of Afghanistan, which subcontracts implementation of many of its national programmes (to which DfID contributes funding) to national and international NGOs, as well as other implementing partners. Other direct recipients of DfID funding, such as UN agencies, also use NGOs as implementing partners. We do not have a detailed list of these.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The accompanying table shows the number of asylum applicants who were removed from the UK in each year from 2002 to 2005, broken down by type of removal. It is not possible to say at what stage in the asylum process people are, at the time of their removal. Published statistics on immigration and asylum issues are available on the Home Office's research development and statistics website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	Principal asylum applicants removed from the United Kingdom, from 2002 to 2005(1)
	
		
			 Year 2002 2003 2004 2005(2)(P) 
			 Total principal asylum applicants(3) 10,740 13,005 12,585 13,670 
			 of whom: 
			 left under assisted voluntary return programmes(4) 895 1,755 2,300 2,905 
			 were enforced removals(5)(6) 9,845 11,250 10,285 10,760 
		
	
	(1) Figures rounded to the nearest five, and may not sum due to rounding.
	(2) Removals in 2005 include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.
	(3) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants.
	(4) Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on-entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated.
	(5) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
	(6) Excludes assisted voluntary returns.
	(P) Provisional figures.

Lord Warner: We are aware of the two vaccines in development by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck Sharp & Dhome.
	The Department of Health has worked closely with the Health Protection Agency, the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, NHS Cancer Screening Programmes and prominent researchers in the field to inform a potential strategy for the NHS when the vaccines become available.
	The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has now set up a sub-group to consider human papilloma virus vaccination. The sub-group met firstly on 23rd May 2006, and manufacturers were invited to submit material for the group to consider. The sub-group will next meet on 22 September, prior to preparing a report to go to the main JCVI meeting in October.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the reply by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 3rd July (HL Deb, col. 10), what is the justification for splitting responsibility for English civil and criminal law between the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Lord Warner: The report Bioavailability of fluoride in drinking-water—a human experimental study, Report for the UK Department of Health, June 2004 was published on the website of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In line with normal practice, a more succinct account of the principal results of the study was prepared by the authors as a scientific paper and published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Dental Research in November 2005: Maguire A, Zohouri FV, Mathers JC, Steen IN, Hindmarch PN, Moynihan PJ. Bioavailability of fluoride in drinking water: a human experimental study. J Dent Res. 2005 Nov;84(11):989-93. This paper acknowledged the funding from the Department of Health. These are the only published reports of this study. The Department of Health believes that they are consistent and accurate reports of the study and its findings. We accept the authors' conclusions stated in the full report that; "There was no statistically significant difference between artificially fluoridated and naturally fluoridated water, or between hard and soft water for Tmax, Cmax, or Area under the Curve for plasma fluoride concentration following water ingestion in healthy young adults. Based on the power of the study to detect differences, some caution is necessary when interpreting the results, but within the limits imposed by the small number of subjects, this study found no evidence for any differences between the absorption of fluoride ingested in artificially fluoridated drinking-water, and in drinking water in which the fluoride is present naturally, or between the absorption of fluoride from hard and soft waters, at fluoride concentrations close to 1 part per million". We also accept the conclusion reached in the paper published in the Journal of Dental research that: "any differences in bioavailability of fluoride between drinking waters in which the fluoride is present naturally or added artificially, or the waters are hard or soft, are small compared with the large within-and between-subject variation in F absorption following ingestion of drinking waters with F concentrations close to 1 part per million".

Lord Rooker: Local authorities have responsibility for erecting road signs under the Foot and Mouth Disease Order. Although local authorities will have to work within their existing budgets during any animal disease outbreak, central government may finance any additional resource or equipment requirements. The process to support this is subject to ongoing discussion.
	Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Service (LACORS) have produced guidance on the erection of road signs during a notifiable disease situation, in consultation with Defra, the State Veterinary Service and the Department for Transport. The guidance was produced as a result of the recent focus on avian influenza.
	The broad aspects referred to in the Question are already covered within the following guidance: guidance on public rights of way and other access signs in a disease situation; Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 animal disease template (Diagram 574 of Schedule 1); additional guidance on the animal disease template; public rights of way sign template; template or restricting access to land other than public rights of way.
	Copies of these have been left in the House Library.

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they propose to take any actions with regard to the extent to which the Government represents the community which it serves.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The costs of running the Northern Ireland Office, the Scotland Office and the Wales Office over the past three years are disclosed in the table below. Costs represent resource outturn as disclosed in the Northern Ireland Offices resource accounts (for Northern Ireland) and the Department for Constitutional Affairs resource accounts (for the Scotland and Wales Offices).
	
		
			  2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 
			  £000s £000s £000s 
			 The Northern Ireland Office 1,039,185 1,092,677 1,292,038 
			 The Scotland Office 6,283 4,050 3,638* 
			 The Wales Office 3,591 3,883 4,308* 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Office is a department in its own right and has responsibility for Northern Ireland's constitutional and security issues, in particular law and order, political affairs, policing and criminal justice. Since the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended in October 2002 the Northern Ireland Office also assumed responsibility for economic and social matters. The executive functions that were previously the responsibility of the Scotland and Wales Offices transferred to the devolved assemblies on 1 July 1999.
	*The Department for Constitutional Affairs 2005-06 resource accounts are currently subject to final audit. The costs of running the Scotland and Wales Offices are not expected to change.

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any research funded by the Ministry of Defence into the illnesses of veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War has caused the Ministry to question the findings of research funded by the government of the United States into the number of troops exposed to fall-out from the demolition by United States forces of the Iraqi chemical arms stored at Khamisiyah and elsewhere in southern Iraq in March 1991; and what is their estimate of the number of British troops exposed to the fall-out.

Health Food Authorities

Home Office

Lord Bassam of Brighton: It is longstanding procedure that all staff are required to have a national security clearance to the appropriate level commensurate to the duties they will be undertaking. Security clearance is valid for a maximum period of 10 years, depending on the level and requires renewal or upgrading if the individual moves to a post which requires a higher level.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Data held on the court proceedings database on the number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' court, found guilty at all courts and sentenced for employing illegal immigrants in England and Wales for the period 2000 to 2004 can be found in the attached table.
	Prosecutions should not be seen as the sole indicator of the enforcement activity carried out to tackle illegal working. The Immigration Service regularly disrupts illegal working activity and will continue to do so, even where there is not a case for prosecution against an employer. Removing their illegal workers results in additional recruitment and training costs for employers as well as potential loss of contracts and orders and bad publicity.
	Information for Scotland is a matter for the Scotland Office and that for Northern Ireland for the Northern Ireland Office. Court proceedings data for 2005 will be available in autumn 2006.
	
		
			 Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates' court, found guilty at all courts, and sentenced, for offences relating to employing an illegal immigrant in England and Wales (1), (2), 2000 to 2004. 
			 Defendants 
			 Employing a person subject to immigration control who has attained the age of 16 (3) Prosecuted Found Guilty Sentenced Fined 
			 2000 (4) 10 4 4 4 
			 2001 8 1 1 1 
			 2002 2 1 1 1 
			 2003 2 1 1 1 
			 2004 11 8 8 8 
			 Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformOur ref: PQ 169-06House of Commons Number [HL6883] 
			 (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. 
			 (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
			 (3) The principal statute for this offence is the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 s.8. 
			 (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to supply a sample of data for magistrates' courts proceedings covering one full week in each quarter for 2000.

Immigration: Independent Monitor for Entry Clearance

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What response they have made to the report of the Independent Monitor on Entry Clearance of November 2005, published in July 2006; whether they will retain appeal rights for persons refused under the new points system until the success rate on appeals falls below 10 per cent; whether changes have been made in the criteria towards greater objectivity; and, if so, what these changes are; whether they have issued guidance to entry clearance officers in accordance with paragraph 73 of the report; whether UKvisas have focused resources on posts where substantial queues develop; and whether documentation verification reports now include details on why a document is said to be a forgery.

Lord Triesman: My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary wrote on 19 July to formally thank the monitor for her report which contains many constructive recommendations as to how UKvisas can improve its decision quality. UKvisas has already issued guidance to visa sections to implement the agreed recommendations. This was done in July 2006.
	Section 4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 2006 removes the right of appeal from entry clearance applications under the points-based system. Implementation of the Act will be phased in line with the introduction of the points-based-system tiers. An administrative review will give applicants the opportunity to challenge the reasons given for refusal where they believe an error of fact has been made.
	Instructions were issued to entry-clearance officers on objectively assessing student and visitor applications in March, August and November 2005. These detailed how applications should be considered objectively and that subjective assessments regarding accents were not appropriate. Further guidance regarding visit applications were issued following legal advice in July 2006. All the recommendations in the independent monitor's report at paragraph 73 were covered in these instructions.
	Further instructions were issued in October 2005 advising visa sections, where there was more than one full-time entry clearance manager, to review the refusal notice before it was served. Training assessment has been overhauled to provide more transparent and focused feedback to delegates to address concerns with regard to overall and specific areas of performance including quality of decisions. In addition, a new programme of overseas refresher training has been launched for existing entry clearance staff—that includes the importance of objective assessments of applications.
	Entry clearance managers at visa sections overseas closely monitor workloads and seasonal variations in demand. UKvisas provide additional staffing on a seasonal basis in order to cope with additional demand. UKvisas also maintains a team of "floaters" who can be deployed overseas at fairly short notice in order to deal with unexpected spikes in demand. Where necessary UKvisas have also increased permanent staff resources.
	Documentation verification reports do now include details on why a document is stated to be not genuine.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question (HL7274) which asked what would have been the increase in the retail prices index and consumer prices index over the past one, three and five years using equal weights for the expenditure of each household (democratic weights) instead of weights proportional to the expenditure of each household (plutocratic weights). I am replying in her absence.
	Information in the form requested is not readily available. Calculation of democratic weights for the retail prices index (RPI) would involve a considerable degree of manipulation of data from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) expenditure and food survey, from which the RPI weights are derived. Specifically, the process would involve returning to the original survey data at household level (that is, each individual response). For each household, actual spending on every commodity would need to be converted into a proportion of the total expenditure incurred by that particular household. These proportions would need to be averaged across all households before using the resultant averages to produce RPI expenditure weights on a democratic basis. Special calculations would also be required to derive the weights for certain housing components whose weights are modelled (that is, mortgage interest payments and depreciation costs). This means that the question can be answered only at disproportionate cost.
	However, previously unpublished research by ONS, which is summarised in the table below, gives some indication of the difference between the use of democratic and plutocratic weights in the RPI:
	
		
			 RPI percentage change over 12 months 
			  Feb 1999 Feb 2000 Feb 2001 
			 Democratic weights 2.5 2.5 2.7 
			 Plutocratic weights (actual RPI) 2.1 2.3 2.7 
		
	
	Consumer prices index (CPI) weights are derived from whole economy estimates of household expenditure taken from the national accounts. The source data come from a variety of sources, including non-household surveys, and are therefore not amenable to the construction of democratic weights.

Lord Triesman: All parties must show restraint and take only proportionate measures that are in accordance with international law. We want to see a diplomatic solution. We remain concerned by the humanitarian situation. As my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary said in another place on 20 July:
	"I know, that from the outset we have urged on all parties that they should act proportionately, and that they should do everything possible to avoid civilian violence. I regret ... the killing and injuring of, in particular, civilians in Lebanon, in Gaza or in Israel itself. Our main objective must be to establish what can be done to ameliorate the situation".—(Official Report, Commons, 20/7/06); col. 511.)

Lord Davies of Oldham: I refer my noble friend to the Answer that I gave on 25 July (Official Report, col. WA 263) to my noble friend the Baroness Gould of Potternewton.

Lord Warner: Strategic health authorities led the public consultation on new primary care trust (PCT) configurations between 14 December 2005 and 22 March 2006. It was clear from the public consultation that there were concerns about the inclusion of Longridge in the new East Lancashire PCT area. The Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority board reached the conclusion that the commissioning of healthcare would be more effective if the administrative boundaries of PCTs were coterminus with those of local authorities and, therefore, that Longridge should be included in East Lancashire PCT for those purposes. However it accepted that management of the Longridge Community Hospital should rest with the new Central Lancashire PCT and that the referral of patients by general practitioners in Longridge to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals should not change. The SHA's proposals on this issue relating to East Lancashire PCT were accepted by the Secretary of State for Health in her announcement to Parliament on 16 May and incorporated in the subsequent Primary Care Trusts (Establishment and Dissolution) (England) Order 2006 made on 24 July.

Lord Warner: All health professionals have a duty to keep up to date in the field in which they practise. The relevant regulatory and professional bodies lay down requirements for this and failure to reach the necessary standard may call the practitioner's registration into question. The post-registration training needs of National Health Service professionals, including nurses, are decided by local NHS organisations against regulatory requirements, local NHS priorities, and through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
	We believe that funding for training generally should be used to ensure that staff at all levels have the opportunity to access training opportunities. In this way some may progress through the skills escalator to professional training programmes. However, it is for each strategic health authority to decide its own priorities for investment and to focus training resources where they are most needed.

Lord Wedderburn of Charlton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will require every general practitioner surgery in England from which National Health Service services are offered to display the address, telephone number and email address of the primary care trust under whose auspices that surgery operates.

Lord Livsey of Talgarth: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there are any guidelines on the number of hours per week which a chairman of a local National Health Service Trust should be able to devote to that post.

Baroness Barker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the comments by the Lord Warner on 7th June (HL Deb, col. 1269), what budget the Department of Health has allocated for the provision of turnaround teams to work with National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities; and
	How many turnaround teams have been sent to work with National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities since January 2006; and what has been the cost of these teams; and
	Whether the cost of turnaround teams for National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities are met by individual trusts or authorities or by the Department of Health centrally; and
	Which firms supply the personnel for turnaround teams for National Health Service trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12th July (WA 127) concerning the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, why staff sick leave increased by over 69 per cent from 2000—01 to 2005—06; and what steps are being taken to reduce the number of sick days.

Lord Rooker: Details of the festival funding agreed for (a) west Belfast; (b) Ardoyne; and (c) New Lodge in the current financial year, together with the sources, are given in the tables below:
	
		
			 West Belfast 
			 Amount Source 
			 Up to £45,000 Northern Ireland Events Company — Community Festivals Fund 
			 £99,000 Arts Council - Annual Support for Organisations Programme 
			 £9,250 (Spring Festival) Arts Council - Lottery Arts Projects 
			 Up to £100,000 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	
		
			 Ardoyne 
			 Up to £17,000 Northern Ireland Events Company — Community Festivals Fund 
			 £3,500 Arts Council - Awards for All 
			 Up to £20,000 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	
		
			 New Lodge 
			 Up to £13,000 Northern Ireland Events Company - Community Festivals Fund 
			 Up to £25, 400 DCAL - Transitional Funding 
		
	
	The Northern Ireland Events Company awards were made using a competitive application process.
	The awards from the Arts Council were made following routine application processes.
	The transitional funding from DCAL was awarded following a review of a specific number of festivals that had a significant decrease in the amount of funding received from the previous year. Transitional funding is available for this year only.
	No further funding from the sources outlined in the tables is envisaged in the current year for the festivals specified.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the business cases for the additional funding for the nationalist festivals in West Belfast, Ardoyne and New Lodge announced on 10 July were (a) delivered, and (b) approved; by whom they were approved; and whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of all related documentation.

Lord Rooker: The funding granted to (a) the West Belfast Festival; (b) the Ardoyne Festival; (c) the New Lodge Festival; and (d) the Twelfth Orange celebrations in Belfast since the festivals were first funded is shown in the table below. Please note that the figures quoted are the amounts that were allocated to the festivals in question; the amounts actually paid out may vary slightly from the figures given.
	
		
			 Financial Year West Belfast Festival Ardoyne Festival New Lodge Festival Belfast Twelfth Orange Celebrations 
			 1994-95 £1685 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1995-96 £600 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1996-97 £89,000 Nil Nil Nil 
			 1997-98 £27,000 £95,000 £25,000 Nil 
			 1998-99 £29,229.98 £1,417 Nil Nil 
			 1999-2000 £47,630 £1,500 Nil Nil 
			 2000-01 £80,933 £1,500 £5, 600 Nil 
			 2001-02 £290,330.41 £13,500 £7,492 Nil 
			 2002-03 £249,224.26 £10,000 £13,400 Nil 
			 2003-04 £393,109 £70,080 £39,160 Nil 
			 2004-05 £379,014 £75,080 £43,110 Nil 
			 2005-06 £277,417 £70,080 £44,160 £28,165 
			 2006-07 £244,000 £40,500 £38,400 £104,200 
			 Total Awarded £2,109,172.65 £378,657 £216,322 £132,365 
		
	
	Please note the following:
	(a) The information contained in the table above may be incomplete as departments have no records of financial assistance awarded to the West Belfast Festival prior to the 1994-95 financial year.
	(b) The figure quoted in the above table for funding granted to the Ardoyne Festival in 2001-02 differs from information provided by the Department of Social Development in response to an earlier parliamentary question (of 21 July 2005, col. WA 308) on funding for festivals. I apologise to the noble Lord as this was due to an administrative oversight which resulted in an allocation of £11,500 to the Ardoyne Festival in 2001-02, not being incorporated in the answer.
	(c) The sum of £104,200 has recently been awarded to the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast by the Department for Social Development for three years commencing in 2006.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 13 July (WA 140), whether they will place a copy of the May edition of the Department for Transport's in-house magazine in the Library of the House.

Baroness Amos: The master plan has been revised and new planning permissions are required. New applications will be established when those conditions are known and featured accordingly in the estimates of costs which we expect to be produced within the next 3 to 6 months.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Identity and Passport Service processed the following reports of (a) loss, (b) theft and (c) other, of a passport in each of the past five calendar years:
	2001 - 148,230 combined total 2002 - 166,358 combined total 2003 - 184,301 combined total2004 - 275,040, Lost 212,745 Stolen 50,737 Other* 11,5582005 - 286,988, Lost 230,011 Stolen 45,709 Other* 11,268Current figures for 2006:2006 - 165,495, Lost 136,765 Stolen 22,133 Other* 6,597IPS does not routinely collate the information in relation to "how many cases the passport holder has previously reported the loss or theft of a passport".* "Other" includes passports reported as damaged or destroyed.

Lord Varley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/364) prevent occupational pensions secured by the purchase of a contracted annuity before 6 April 2006 from being paid in full; and, if so, what the consequences are for the revenue received by the Exchequer; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McKenzie of Luton on 26 June (WA 130), what is the purpose of the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/364), given that the "old limits" of H M Revenue and Customs ceased to be a tax requirement from 6 April; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord McKenzie of Luton on 26 June (WA 130), whether H M Revenue and Customs monitor the new limits set by the Registered Pension Schemes (Modification of the Rules of Existing Schemes) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/364); what criteria they use to monitor these limits; and how long they intend these regulations to remain in force.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government published their response to the Ombudsman's report in June 2006. Since then they have taken note of various views expressed on this issue, including the report of the Public Administration Select Committee. We will be responding to that report in due course.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Information on Community Support Officer (CSO) numbers on 31 March 2006 was published on 26 July 2006 as part of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Police Service Strength, England and Wales (no.13/06) at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosbl306.pdf . A table of CSO strength in each force is below. There is no statutory basis for community support officers outside England and Wales.
	
		
			 Community Support Officers — Strenth 31 March 2006 
			 Govt. Office Region Police Force Strength31.3.06fte 
			 North East  296 
			  Cleveland 100 
			  Durham 67 
			  Northumbria 129 
			 North West  723 
			  Cheshire 75 
			  Cumbria 17 
			  Gtr Manchester 251 
			  Lancashire 184 
			  Merseyside 196 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber  674 
			  Humberside 20 
			  North Yorkshire 71 
			  South Yorkshire 121 
			  West Yorkshire 462 
			 East Midlands  408 
			  Derbyshire 42 
			  Leicestershire 136 
			  Lincolnshire 78 
			  Northamptonshire 40 
			  Nottinghamshire 112 
			 West Midlands  471 
			  Staffordshire 70 
			  Warwickshire 64 
			  West Mercia 85 
			  West Midlands 252 
			 Eastern  568 
			  Bedfordshire 41 
			  Cambridgeshire 101 
			  Essex 192 
			  Hertfordshire 139 
			  Norfolk 65 
			  Suffolk 30 
			 London  2326 
			  City of London 11 
			  Metropolitan Police 2315 
			 South East  640 
			  Hampshire 30 
			  Kent 97 
			  Surrey 126 
			  Sussex 257 
			  Thames Valley 130 
			 South West  265 
			  Avon & Somerset 130 
			  Devon & Cornwall 74 
			  Dorset 61 
			  Gloucestershire 72 
			  Wiltshire 57 
			 Wales  271 
			  Dyfed Powys 26 
			  Gwent 76 
			  North Wales 58 
			  South Wales 111 
			 England and Wales  6769 
			 Notes: Because of rounding, constituent parts may not necessarily sum to the totals.

Baroness Harris of Richmond: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans they have to reimburse police forces who, in complying with the Government's police force mergers, have incurred financial cost.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The department does not currently collate information in the format requested and it could only be produced in the format requested at disproportionate cost. I have updated the House today on the progress which has been made on the eight priority action areas to improve our effectiveness in deporting foreign national prisoners, which the Secretary of State for the Home Department launched in his Statement of 23 May.

Baroness Sharples: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 29 June (HL Deb, cols. 1318—20), why it is considered discourteous to provide information that is to be given as evidence to a Select Committee in the House of Commons in response to a question for oral answer tabled in the House of Lords.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate made a commitment to provide an update to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) before the end of June with the best available information on the foreign national prisoners released without due consideration for deportation. It would not have been correct to pre-empt this update before the director general had fulfilled her commitment which was given to the HASC as early as was practically possible on the 29 June. The Home Secretary ensured that a copy of the director general's letter was placed in the Library of the House on the same day.

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the InnerChange initiative to rehabilitate prisoners in H M Prison Dartmoor was banned on the basis that it might offend minority religious groups and homosexuals; and
	How many prisoners participated in the InnerChange initiative at H M Prison Dartmoor; and what has been the impact on their behaviour; and
	Whether the InnerChange programme at H M Prison Dartmoor failed a Prison Service quality assurance process; if so, on what grounds; what are the principles underlying this process; and what would the programme have to contain to meet the required standards.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: A specific date for publication of the paper has not yet been set. However, the Government are hopeful that the paper will be published shortly after the end of the Summer Recess.
	There are a number of potential options that could be pursued as a result of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights' judgment in the case of Hirst. The Government have been considering these carefully and will outline them in the consultation paper.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: A concerted indiscipline incident involves two or more prisoners acting together to cause disruption to the prison regime. The following table contains the number of incidents of concerted indiscipline in prisons in England and Wales in the last six months up to 18 July 2006.
	Number of incidents of concerted indiscipline in English and Welsh prisons in the six months up to 18 July 2006.
	
		
			 Date Concerted Indiscipline 
			 January 14 
			 February 6 
			 March 7 
			 April 7 
			 May 8 
			 June 12 
			 Total 54

Lord Tebbit: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 17 July (WA 166) concerning the availability of condoms in prison, what sexual activities prisoners are allowed to take part in.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The chief executive of National Offender Management Service is responsible for ensuring that the recommendations made by Lord Justice Keith are pursued in accordance with the Government's response which was published on 29 August. The National Offender Management Service board will oversee and monitor implementation.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The table gives the total prison population in England and Wales at 30 June in each year since 2004. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and so is not necessarily accurate to the last whole number.
	
		
			 Prison Population in England and Wales, 30 June 2004-2006 
			 2004 74,448 
			 2005 76,190 
			 2006 77,982

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The prison services in England and Wales and Northern Ireland do not have a specific policy on the displaying of symbols associated with witchcraft and is at governors' discretion. Scottish prisons are the responsibility of the Scottish Executive who should be approached separately.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibilities of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the National Statistician, Karen Dunnell, dated 14 September 2006.
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what proportion of national capital assets were owned by the public sector, defined as central government, local government and nationalised industries and other publicly owned companies, in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or years for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportion will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. (HL7340)
	The estimates below are calculated using estimates of net capital stock as published on 24 July 2006. Estimates of capital stock measure the value of fixed assets in existence. Net capital stock represents the value of these assets after depreciation is taken into account.
	The public sector is defined using National Accounts definitions and comprises central government, local government and public corporations.
	The annual ONS publication, Capital Stocks, Capital Consumption and Non-Financial Balance Sheets, can be found on the National Statistics website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=10730&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272
	ONS does not produce National Accounts forecasts.
	
		
			 Net capital stock of public sector as a percentage of net capital stock for the whole economy 
			 Year Per cent 
			 1976 43% 
			 1996 22% 
			 2005 21%

Baroness Amos: Figures are not kept in the form requested. However rail patronage figures are published by the Office of Rail Regulation, in the National Rail Trends Yearbook, which includes figures by train operating company and sector. The yearbook is available on the ORR website under "rail statistics" at www.rail-reg.gov.uk.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The inspector's report on the A27 trunk road Southerham to Beddingham Improvement scheme, which provides for the replacement of the level crossing at Beddingham by a bridge over the Lewes to Eastbourne railway line, was received on 1 March 2006. The Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced their joint decision on Wednesday 9 August 2006.

Lord Tope: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many (a) central Government staff; (b) local Government staff; (c) police officers; and (d) parliamentary staff have been re-vetted by the security services since September 2001, broken down by ethnic origin.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: A multi-agency group was hosted by the Home Office to prepare for the introduction of foreign travel orders, civil orders which can be obtained to prevent the travel of those who pose a risk of serious sexual harm to a child or children overseas. After the introduction of those orders on 1 May 2004 the group—which included a representative from the Department for International Development—met periodically to discuss the wider issue of travelling sex offenders but it added little to work aimed at safeguarding children and was disbanded. The Home Office has however continued to work with others to ensure that children, wherever they may be in the world, are protected from sex offenders. A review of our policy and legislation towards travelling sex offenders was conducted earlier this year. That review sought the views of other government departments, law enforcement agencies and nongovernement organisations such as ECPAT and we will be announcing our findings later in the year.

Baroness Walmsley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many speech and language therapists have been employed in England in each of the last five years, broken down by local education authority.

Lord Warner: This information is not collected centrally. The annual National Health Service workforce census records the number of speech and language therapists by primary care trust and NHS trust. A table showing the number of speech and language therapists by PCT and trust in each of the last five years has been placed in the Library.

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In relation to the direct taxes hotline and advertising campaign announced by H M Revenue and Customs on 28 February—(a) what is the total gross cost to date of the hotline and website; (b) what is the estimated additional tax revenue; (c) how many individuals have called the hotline; (d) how many suspected tax evaders have been reported to the website; (e) how many inquiries and full investigations have been initiated as a result of information received through the hotline and website; (f) how many people have been prosecuted as a result of information received through the hotline and website; and (g) when the costs and benefits of the hotline will be reviewed.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is committed to targeting tax evasion. Its tax evasion hotline was opened on 17 October 2005 taking calls on 0800 788 887 from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday, and 8 am to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, as well as receiving information through a variety of other means including a dedicated website, Freepost, Freefax and Textphone. HMRC also operates the Customs Confidential Helpline (0800 59 5000) to receive information about smuggling or any other suspicious activity.
	From its launch to 31 August 2006, the tax evasion hotline received approximately 97,000 reports, including 87,047 calls from the public, around 3,000 letters and faxes, 5,200 e-mails and 1,900 referrals from Customs Confidential. Until enquiries have been completed, it is not possible to identify how many of these reports may relate to the same individuals, nor how many may have been received both in writing and by telephone, nor how many relate to tax evaders.
	The tax evasion hotline has been developed as part of a package of new compliance measures for the then Inland Revenue announced in Budget 2004 (HC 301), along with the amount of funding and forecast additional revenues. HMRC reports progress on these measures in its annual and spring reports. HMRC also plans to publish a report on the costs and benefits of the tax evasion hotline in the future. The further detailed information requested is not currently available.
	The number of full investigations that have been initiated and the number of prosecutions undertaken cannot be disclosed because of the operational sensitivity of information about this law enforcement activity.

Lord Ashcroft: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What action they are taking to investigate the allegations of Japan's illegal catches of southern blue fin tuna, which is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as critically endangered.

Lord Patten: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether, in the last 12 months, they have made representations to the Government of Turkey on the issue of free speech.

Lord Triesman: We have raised our concerns on a number of occasions in the last year with the Turkish Government on the issue of free speech, including the well known cases brought against Orhan Pamuk, Hrant Dink and Perihan Magden. I recently wrote to the Turkish ambassador in London underlining the need to ensure court decisions reflect Turkey's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord Adonis: The latest information on student numbers is given the table.
	
		
			 UK domiciled full-time undergraduates. English Higher Education Institutions 
			 Academic year Numbers 
			 1996-97 716,640 
			 1997-98 727,080 
			 1998-99 736,200 
			 1999-2000 732,525 
			 2000-01 738,880 
			 2001-02 760,790 
			 2002-03 788,690 
			 2003-04 809,535 
			 2004-05 823,740 
			 Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Numbers are based on a snapshot count of students as at 1 December in each year. 
		
	
	Since 1996-97, information on projected non-completion rates for higher education students has been published annually, initially by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and latterly by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), in Performance Indicators in Higher Education. The latest available figures giving overall non-completion rates for students starting full-time first degree courses in England are shown in the table. Figures published in 2005 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that in 2003 the UK had one of the lowest higher education non-completion rates among OECD countries.
	
		
			 UK domiciled full-time first degree students expected neither to obtain an award nor transfer. English higher education institutions 
			   Starters expected neither to obtain an award nor transfer: 
			 Students starting courses in: Number of starters Numbers Percentage 
			 1996-97 218,225 34,260 15.7 
			 1997-98 227,115 36,565 16.1 
			 1998-99 231,740 36,615 15.8 
			 1999-2000 230,930 36,720 15.9 
			 2000-01 233,170 34,975 15.0 
			 2001-02 242,515 33,465 13.8 
			 2002-03 254,535 35,380 13.9 
			 2003-04 258,530 37,230 14.4 
			 Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by HESA in July 2006. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five.For 2003-04, the projected outcomes summarise the pattern of movements of students at institutions between 2003-04 and 2004-05 and give the outcomes that would have been expected from starters in 2003-04 if progression patterns were to remain unchanged over the next few years. The HESA data show the proportion of entrants who are projected to: obtain a qualification (either a first degree or another undergraduate award); transfer to another HEI; neither obtain a qualification nor transfer (i.e. fail to complete the course). Figures for 2004-05 will be published in July 2007.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 12th July (WA 134), under what employment regulations the director of marketing and communications of Waterways Ireland was appointed; and whether those regulations would allow this appointment to be made on the basis of a promotion.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from the Director of Macroeconomics and Labour Market, Colin Mowl, dated 14 September 2006.
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what proportion of national income was received by each quintile of the population in each of the years 1976, 1996, 2006 or the latest year for which figures are available; and what they estimate the proportions will be at the end of the current comprehensive spending review. I am replying in her absence. (HL7342).
	National income commonly refers to income generated by the production of goods and services by the whole economy, only some of which is distributed to households. As such, it is not possible to allocate national income to household quintile groups. However, it is possible to do this for income received by households and estimates have been provided in the table below.
	These estimates are based on the ONS analyses The effects of taxes and benefits on household income. The latest analysis for 2004-05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12 May 2006 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	"Equivalised" household disposable income is adjusted to take into account the different size and composition of households. This equivalised income can then be used as a comparable measure of living standards for all households.
	The following table shows estimates of the percentage share of total equivalised disposable income received by each household quintile group. The latest available estimates are for the year 2004-05, and there are no projections beyond this. The earliest available estimates which are based on equivalised incomes are for the year 1977.
	
		
			 Percentage shares of equivalised disposable income by household quintile groups for 1977,1996-97 and 2004-05 
			 United Kingdom   Percentages 
			 
			 Quintile groups1 1977 1996-97 2004-05 
			 Bottom 10 8 8 
			 2nd 14 12 13 
			 3rd 18 16 17 
			 4th 23 23 22 
			 Top 36 42 41 
			 All households2 100 100 100 
			 1Ranked by equivalised disposable income. 2 Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.Source: Office for National Statistics

Lord Drayson: Approximately 7,000 servicemen were tried for desertion under the (British) Army Act 1881. We would need to examine the registers for courts martial to establish how many were sentenced and this could only be done at disproportionate effort. 266 were executed. It is not known how many soldiers were sentenced or executed for desertion under the Indian Army Act 1911.